R. SHELTON MACKENZIE,
(OF "THE PRESS")
No. 1712 Locust Street,
Philadelphia, Aug 5 1876
Dear Sir,
Thoreau has been
so tremendously over praised
by the New England
critics, or rather puffers,
that I have never been
able to take kindly to
him. I admire Shelley
beyond all modern poets,
except Byron, but have
not published my own
estimate of his wondrous
genius. As for Byron,
I doubt whether he stands
a jot lower than Shakes-
peare. Your oblige
R. Shelton Mackenzie
A. H. Dooley Esq
My own personal recollections,
not to appear until after
I am dead (and I
am now 67), will
probably occupy my
little leisure through
the coming time.
A. H. Dooley Esq
Bookseller
Terre Haute, Ind.